The
1949 Franklin half dollar is a date that has
never seemed to find precisely the right place
in relation to other Franklin half dollars. In
part, this was because there was very little
study of Franklin half dollars and many simply
saw all the dates from the 1940s as better.

There was actually pretty good reason to see the
dates from the 1940s as better. There were only
two years of Franklin half dollar production in
the 1940s. The 1948 production was limited to
Philadelphia and Denver, while the second year
in 1949 saw mintages at all three facilities.

It is surprising that the 1940s mintages are
both low. The 1949 Philadelphia issue actually
has the highest mintage of the five Franklin
half dollar issues from the 1940s with a
production of 5,614,000 pieces. It was unusual
to see a new design start out with two years of
low mintages. While there was not much interest
in Franklin half dollars for many years, what
little there was centered on the dates from the
1940s.

The reason for the low mintages was that the
U.S. simply did not need large numbers of half
dollars. There had been record-breaking mintages
during World War II and those coins were still
more than enough to meet the commercial needs
for half dollars. In fact, the final few years
of Walking Liberty half dollar production had
seen the mintages drop to low levels. Because
there was a design change in 1948 did not mean
there was any reason to suddenly produce an
abundance of half dollars, so early Franklin
half dollar mintages remained low. The first
mintage of more than 10 million not occur until
1951.

Today the 1949 is priced at $145 in MS-65. That
is actually more costly than the lower mintage
1948 and 1948-D and only $15 less than the still
lower mintage 1949-S. The reason is simply that
the 1948 and 1948-D were the first years of the
Franklin half dollar and, as virtually always
happens, they were likely to be saved in greater
numbers.

In the case of the 1949-S, it is worth
remembering that it was the first year the
Franklin half dollar was produced at San
Francisco so it too was likely to be saved in
greater numbers. The 1949, however, was the
second year of Philadelphia Franklin half dollar
production and that usually means less saving.
This is seen in its MS-65 price as well as its
$38.50 MS-60 level, which is more than double
the price of either the Philadelphia or Denver
1948.

The 1949 is also a surprise in MS-65 with full
bell lines. At $250 it is more expensive than
the 1948 and just $10 less than the 1948-D. That
said, the 1949 is far less than either the
1949-S or 1949-D, as it is seen in some numbers
with full bell lines. However, as collecting of
full bell line Franklin half dollars grows in
popularity, it is hard to know whether the
existing supplies will be adequate to meet
demand.